Power hoisting apparatus.



c. HQLA FRANCE.

POWER HOYISTINGAPPARATUS. APPLICATION FILED AUG.3. 1914.

L 1L @l ,229.. PatentedNov. 23, 1915.

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POWER HOISTING APPARATUS. APELICAUOM mtu AuG.3.|-914.

Patented Nov. 23, 1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 Ihn/ENTER WITN 555155: v Wyp...

ATTmRNEY CHARLES H. LA FRANCE, 0F BUFFALO, NEW YORK..

`rovina nois'rmo APPARATUS.

Specication of Letters Patent. Patented Nov. 23, 1915.

Application filed August-3, 1914. Serial No. 854,891.

designed for raising and lowering an auto' mobile or motor vehicle when this is neces- .sary for adjustment, inspection orrepairs of any of its parts.

It is the object of this invention to pro-- vide a power hoisting apparat-us for this purpose which derives its powerfrom the motor or other source of energy which is mounted on the automobile and ordinarilyl used for other lpurposes 'such as driving the motor car, illuminating the lamps or the like, thereby permitting the motor vehicle to be raised and lowered when required without any'manual'laboror undue physical exertion on the part Vof the" driver or attendant and enabling the car to be taken care of more easily and conveniently than when the same is raised and lowered manually.

In the accompanying. drawings: Figure 1 is a side elevation', partly in section, of a motorcar or vehicle equipped with one form of my improved power hoisting apparatus. F ig. 2 is a,l vertical section, on an enlarged scale, showing one form of lifting jack which may be employed. as a part of my im# proved power hoisting apparatus. Fig. 3 is 'a 'horizontal section taken in lined-3, lTig. 2. Fig. 4 is a section taken lin line i-tg F ig. 2. Fig. -5 is afragmentary vertical longitudinal section, on Van enlarged scale,

showing the means of-taking motion from the pump shaft of the automobile for operating the hoisting apparatus. Fig. 6 is an end elevation of the same, partly in section.

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary longitudinal sec-A tion of a portion of the flexible shaft where` by motion is transmitted from the motor of the automobile to the lifting jack. isaJ side elevation of the retaining sleeve whereby the sections of the casing of the flexible shaftY are held in alinement relatively to each other.

Similar characters of reference vindicate corresponding parts throughout the several views. i

1 represents an automobile or motor vehicle which may be operated by a prime mover of any suitable kind. As illustrative of the various kinds of motors which may be employed for this purpose that shown in Fig. l is a gas engine or explosion motor 2 which is mounted on the front part of the car. and operatively connected with the driving wheels of the car in any suitable and well known manner. The power developed by this engine is utilized for operating the lifting jack 'whereby the motor vehicle may be raised and lowered. For'this purpose the lifting jack is operatively connected with any suitable shaft which is mounted on the car and receives its power from the engine on the car. In the examplel illustrated in Figs. l, 5 and 6 as showing one of the various means of transmitting motion from the motor tothe lifting jack the driving shaft 3 which operates the water pump 4 and the magneto 5 has been selected for this purpose. This driving shaft 3 is arranged .horizontally and lengthwise on one side of the prime mover or engine of the motor oar and is operatively connected with the engine shaft so as to derive its power from the engine in any suitable and well known manner. The lifting jack which is operated from this shaft 3 may also be constructed in various ways that shown in Figs. l, 2, '3 and l being illustrative of one form and constructed as follows: The main frame of the lifting jack is preferably constructed in the form of a standard having a hollow circular base or foot 6 'which is adapted to rest4 on the ground, ioor or other suitable support and which is provided centrally on its upper side with an upwardly projecting tubular post or column 7.

` that the samev n liding vertically 1n the column is `a vertical tubular adapted to engage with the underside of the axle or other part of an automobile for the purpose of raising or lowering the same.

lVithin the lower part or base of the standard is arranged a rotatable driven or operating wheel 13 which may be journaled in any suitable manner so that thiswheel` turns about avertical aXis, the means for4 this purpose shown in the drawings consisting of a ball bearing let interposed between a recess 15 formed centrally on the underside of the operating wheel and a recess 1G formed vcentrally on the upper side of the bottom of the base, as shown in Fig. 2. Projecting upwardly' from thevcenter of the operating wheel is a lifting screw or screw shaft 17 the external thread of which engages with the internal 'thread ofl the shank 8, whereby upon turning the operat# ing wheel and lifting screw the lifting mem' ber will be raised or lowered together with the part resting thereon. Although various means may be provided for turning the operating wheel in one direction or the other,'the means for'thispurpose which are shown in Figs. -2 and' 3 are suitable,.and comprise a radial flange 18 formed on the peripheral portion ofthe operating wheel' and pro-vided on itsupper side with a frictional driving surface which is arranged radially relatively to the aXis of this 'wheel orl in a plane at right angles thereto, and a cylindrical flange 19 projecting upwardly from the operating wheel and having a cylindrical driving surface on its periphery orv outer side which is concentric with the axis of said wheel. Between the driving faces of the radial and cylindrical flanges of the operating wheel is arranged a conical friction driving pinion 20 the axis of which is arranged oblique and preferably at Aan angle of 45 degrees relatively tothe-faces of the radial and cylindrical flanges of the` operatingV wheel. By this means it is possible to engage thel friction pinion either on its underside with the radial flange of the operating wheel for rotating the same in .one direction or the upper part of this friction pinion may be engaged with the cylindrical flange of the operating wheel for turning the latter in the opposite direction. The diameter of the friction face on the radial flange is greater than the diameter of the friction face of the cylindrical flange so that the leverage during engagement of the friction pinion with the radial flange n is greater than when this pinion engages with the cylindrical'iange. The trend of the screw threaded:connection between the screw shaft and the shank is therefore so determined that when the friction pinion engages with the radial flange of the operating' wheel the screw shaft will operate to raise the shank and liftingmember easilyinasmuch as the greatest` power is at this memes time required for lifting the load, while less power is required for turning the operating wheel .in the opposite direction for lowering the load so that ample leverage at this time is obtained by engaging the friction pinion with the cylindrical flange'of the operating wheel. rl`his friction pinion kis mounted Von a pinion driving shaft 21/ whichis so mounted that the same may bc raised or lowered for moving either the lower side of the pinion into engagement with the radial flange or the upper side thereof into engagement with the cylindrieal flange. rlhe preferred means for this purpose comprisea rotatable bearing sleeve 22 which is journaled in an oblique bearing 23 'formed' on the upper part of the hollow base and provided with a bearingv 24- extending eccentrically through the same for the reception of the pinion shaft 21. Owing to this eccentric support of the pinion shaft the bearing sleeve when turned so' that its eccentric'bearing is lowered will bring the friction pinion into engagement with the radial flange and cause the' lifting member to be raised while upon turning the bearing sleeve so that the eccentric'bearii'ig thereof is raised kthe pinion will be engaged with the cylindrical flange and cause the lifting member to be lowered, but when the bearing sleeve is so turned that its eccentric hearing is midway between its upper and lowermost positions, the friction pinion will be out `of engagement with the cylindrical flange and the radial flange, so that uo motion will betransmitted from the friction pinion to the operating wheel even though the` pinion continues to rotate in thc same direction. rlhe pinion is preferably left in the last mentioned position when the lifting member has been raised to the desired position or when the lifting jack is not in use. The turning of the eccentric bearing sleeve maybe effected in any suitable manner, for instance, byineans of a handle or lever' Q5 which is secured to the outer end of the bearing sleeve, as shownv in Fig.y Q, so that the same is within convenient' reach of the operator. -For convenience in pushing the lifting liack into and out of its position undef'- neath the automobile axle or other part which is to he engaged, the upper part of the post or column of the standard is `provided with a laterally projecting socket 26 having its upper part provided with a downwardly projecting shoulder Q7, so that a tool having an upwardly projcctinghook may be inserted into this socket and en'- gaged with this shoulder for shifting the lifting jack easily into thejdesircd position. The means shown in' the drawings for transmitting motion from the counteiiidriv-j mg. shaft 3 of the vehicle motor to the" i tionpinion lshaft 21 of the lifting iii'ay insieme be variously designed, but that shown in the drawings comprises a counter shaft 28 provided with a gear wheel 29 meshing with the gear wheel 50 on the diiving shaft 3, as shown in Figs. 1', 5 and 6, and a flexible sha ft connecting the counter shaft 28 with the pinion shaft 2l. rllhis flexible shaft may be of any usual and well known type but that shown in the drawings comprises a flexible driving core 30 having preferably the form of a chain, coupling sleeves 31 arranged at opposite ends of the core and having flat sided sockets 32 which engage with correspondingly shaped Shanks 38 on the attaching ends of the countershaft 28 and the pinion shaft 21 so as to obtain a driving connection between the shafts 2S, 2l and the core of the flexible shaft. These coupling sleeves are preferably detachably connected with their respective shafts by means of transverse spring keys or pins 34 passing crosswise through lcorresponding recesses or notches in the coupling sleeves and the respective attaching ends of the driving and driven shafts 2l, 28. The core of the flexible shaft is inclosed by a casing which in this instance preferably comprises two sections 36, 37 terminating at their inner ends about half way of the length of this shaft while their outer ends are secured respectively to the coupling sleeves 81. At the inner ends of the casing sections the latter may be either folded relatively to each other together with the core of the shaft so as to perinit of stowing the lifting apparatus away more compactly or the opposing ends of the casing sections may be held in line with each other when it is desired to put the flexible shaft in operative condition for driving the lifting jackn The preferred means for thus permitting the flexible Shaft to be either doubled or retained in its straightened or normal position which are shown in Figs. 1, and 8 are constructed as follows: 38 repre- 4sents a pair of pivot ears arranged on the inner end of one of the casing sections and pivotally connected by means .of transverse rivets 39 or the like with a similar pair of pivot ears 40 arranged on the opposing inner end of the other casing section so that these two casing sections may be folded or unfolded relatively to eachother. 41 represents a'retaining sleeve .mounted on the inner end of one of the casing sections, for instance 36, and capable of being moved lengthwise thereon so as to engage or embrace thev opposing inner end of the othei casing section 37 and cross the joint between the same for holding the same rigidly inv alinement with each other and enabling the flexible shaft core to work freely therein. The retaining sleeve is preferably held yieldingly in its operative position by means of a spring 42 surrounding the inner end of the casing section 36 and bearing at one end against the retaining sleeve and at its other end against a shoulder 43 on the adjacent casing section. The retaining sleeve is limited in its longitudinal movement by means of a stop pin 44 arranged on the saine casing section which carries the spring 42 and engages with the longitudinal part or runway 45 of a slot formed in the adjacent part of the retaining sleeve so that opposite ends of this slot upon engaging with the stop pin 44 serve as means for limiting the longitudinal movement of the retaining sleeve. rl`he latter may be also locked in eitheriits operative or inoperative position by means of locking notches, shoulders or branch slots 35 formed transversely in the retaining sleeve at opposite ends of the longitudinal runway. By means of these notches it is only necessary to give the retaining sleeve a slight turn when the locking pin is arranged at either end of the runway in order to engage the locking pin with the respective locking notch and thereby hold the retaining sleeve against longitudinal movement on the flexible shaft casing while the parts are in this relative position.

Means are provided for moving the driven gear wheel 29 either into or out of engagement with the driving gear wheel 50 of'the shaft 3 so that the lifting jack may be driven when necessary but unnecessary wear of the parts at other times may be avoided. For this lpurpose the counter shaft 28 is mounted in a movable support which preferably consists of a vertically swinging rockarm 46 provided at its upper end with bearings in which the counter shaft is journaled and pivoted at its lower end by means of a horizontal longitudinal pin 47 on a bracket 48 projecting laterally from the base of the engine. lV hen the rock arm 46 is turned into an upright position the gear wheel of the counter shaft is in mesh with the gear wheel of the driving shaft 3 as shown in Figs. 1, 5 and G, this upward swinging movement being limited bymeans of a stop 49 arranged on the bracket 4S in position to be engaged by said rock arm. The direction of this upward swinging movement of the rock arm 46 is preferably so determined that it coincides with the direction in which the operative part of the driving gear ywheel 50 engages with, the driven gear wheel 29 on the counter shaft so that the driving pressure of the gear wheel 50 against the driven gear wheel 29 operates constantly to hold the`rock arm 4G against the stop 49 without requiring any further means for this purpose. When it is desired to operatively disconnect the driving shaft- 3 from the counter shaft 28 it is`onlyT necessary, to swing the rock arni 4G outwardly and downwardly sufficiently to dis enga ge the driven gear Wheel from the drivmg gear wheel. The disengaging movement of this rock arm is preferably limited by means of a stop 51 arranged on the bracket 48 in position to be engaged by the rock arm 46.

This improved power hoisting apparatus can be placed in position and easily operated without personal contact with any greasy or dirty parts of the vehicle and no physical effort is required eithervto raise or lower the load imposed upon the lifting lack.

1nasmuch-as this hoisting device can be applied to any part of the car which is usuallyengaged by a lifting jack no effort is required on the part yof the attendant to raise or lower the car inasmuch as the power for its operation is derived from the power plant of the car itself' and inaccessible or awkward places underneath the ear can therefore be reached asl4 easily by this hoisting device as places which are more accessible or within convenient reach. .c-

Owing to the fact that the power foreperating this hoisting device is derived from the prime mover of the car the operation of ,raising and lowering the cail may be effected in much less time than that ordinarily required when a hand operated lifting jack is usedand there is also less liability of accidents as well as greater safety for the operator, Furthermore, the simplicity of the construction of this hoisting apparatus renders the same less liable to get out of order and capable of being produced at comparatively low cost.

Although .the forms or embodiments of 'this invention which are shown in the drawings are practical and answer the purpose it .is obvious that the same may be altered in various respects without departing from the essential features of this invention.

AI claim as my invention.

1. vThe combination of a motor vehicle having a power driven shaft and a hoisting device comprising a Vlifting member adapted to engage the part to be elevated, and means for transmitting power from said shaft to said lifting member comprising a flexible 'shaft connected with said power driven l shaft, said flexible shaft having .a casing .which is constructed in sections and said sections having retaining'means for permitting the same to be folded or held in alinement with each other.

E2. The combination of a motor vehicle having a power driven shaft and a hoisting `device comprisinga lifting member adapted to engage thepart to be elevated, and means for'transmitting power from said shaft to said lifting member comprising a flexible shaft 'connected with said power driven shaft, said flexible shaft having a casing which is constructed in sections and said sections having retaining means for permitting the same to be folded or held in alinement with yeach other, said-retaining means comprisingpivotally connected cars'arranged on the opposing ends of said casing sections, and a 'sleeve movable lengthwise of said casing' sections across the joint between the same.

3. The combination of a motor vehicle having a power driven shaft and a hoisting device comprising a lifting member adapterl to engage the part to be elevated, and means for transmitting power from said shaft to said lifting member comprising a flexible shaft connected with said power driven shaft, said flexible shaft having a casing `which is constructed in sections and said sections having retaining means for permitting the same to be folded or held in alinement with each other, said retaining means comprising pivotally connected ears ar- -anged on the opposing ends of said casing sections, a sleeve movable lengthwise of said casing sections across the joint between the same, a spring interposed between said sleeve and a. shoulder on one of said casing sections, and a locking pin ar angcd on one of said casing sections and engaging with a slot formed in said sleeve and having a longitudinal runway and transverse shoulders at opposite ends of said longitudinal runway.

el. A hoisting device comprising a standard, a lifting member guided to move vertically on said standard, and means for movmg said lifting device vertically comprising a rotatable wheel operatively connected with said lifting member and having two annular driving flanges arranged at an angle to one another, a driving pinion arranged between said llanges, and means movably supporting said pinion on said standard and adapted to shift said pinion into engagement with either one or the other ofsaid flanges.

5. A hoisting device comprising a standy ard, a lifting member guided to move vertically on said standard, and means for moving said lifting device vertically comprising a rotatable wheel operatively connected with said lifting member and having two annular driving flanges, il driving pinion arranged between said flanges, a sleeve journaled in a bearing on the standard and having an eccentric bearing. a driving shaft jonrnaled in said eccentric bearing and carrying said pinion, and means for turning said sleeve for engaginfr said pinion with either one or th'e other of said flanges.

G. A hoisting device comprising a standard, a lifting member guided to move vertically on said standard, and means for moving said lifting device vertically comprising a rotatable wheel operatively connected with said lifting member `and having two annular driving flanges, one of which'has a radial face and the other a cylindrical face, a conitai and stops for limiting the rocking movement of said support only in the direction of the pressure of the driving gear Wheels against the driven` gear wheel.

Witness my hand this 1st day of August, 1914.

CHARLES H. LA FRANCE.

Witnesses:

CHAs. S. ASH, WM. A. RIDGE.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, byaddressing the Commissioner of Patents. Washington, D. C. 

